MUSIC REVIEW : MOZART CAMERATA MISSES SUBSTANCE

There’s nothing wrong with a little Mozart--everyone loves Mozart. Yet oddly enough, a full evening of his music doesn’t automatically yield the pleasures one might expect.

Ami Porat and his Mozart Camerata certainly had their hearts in the right place Saturday night at Santa Ana High School, honoring their namesake on his upcoming 231st birthday. But the choice of repertory--three and one third pieces, all from the composer’s youth--left one satiated with fluff, and hungry for substance.

The opening and closing works fared best, although in the Divertimento, K. 159, and the concluding Symphony No. 21, Porat might have brought more lightness to these charming scores. The conductor managed to draw out steady, finely balanced playing from his well-drilled chamber ensemble, but his approach to the music failed to fully explore dynamic nuance and coloristic shading. Part of the problem stemmed from a uniform approach to tempos: Everything tended toward the brisk, allowing little time for explorations in search of subtlety.

As pleasant, and often inspired, as these pieces were, there seemed no reason why at least one work from Mozart’s mature years could not have been substituted--say, a symphony, divertimento or overture. Had one never heard “late” Mozart, one might have left the hall wondering what the fuss was all about.

Likewise, including two of Mozart’s small-scale solo vehicles gave only a hint of the profundity of his musical mind. The D-major Flute Concerto and the Fourth Violin Concerto are tuneful, if not particularly demanding examples of Mozart’s ability to write, on demand, wonderful music for less-than-wonderful 18th-Century players.

Susan Fries brought a full-bodied tone to the Flute Concerto, while displaying a competent technique that came a bit unraveled when the going got tough.

Violinist Wei-Fang Gu appeared only briefly--apparently in a last-minute, invited guest spot--and brought confidence and extroversion to his reading of the Allegro from the Fourth Concerto. Most notable was a brilliantly played, albeit overly long, cadenza. The young man deserves a full-length hearing.

In both concertos, Porat accompanied sympathetically, leading his charges in some of their more spirited playing of the night.

Bach’s Air on the G String was played in encore.